


A Symbol of Hope

by Tiryn



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Cats, F/M, Family Relations, Friendship, Gay, Heterosexual, Homosexual, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Magic, Memories, relationships, straight - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-04-10 13:54:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 13,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4394462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiryn/pseuds/Tiryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You lose a lot of things in life; friends, family, things, hope. It's a normal thing, really, but what is one to do when all of that is restored, when they are given another chance to make right what was made wrong? Anastasia made her choice, and now everyone must see it to the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

To tell the truth, I'm a little absentminded at times; I would set something down somewhere, forget it five minutes later, and then think I lost it. Trust me, I would lose my own pants if I wasn't wearing them.

The only item that this does not apply to is my phone. Even if I don't have it for more than an hour or so, it would still be in the same place that I left it.

Why am I telling you this?

It is because my phone is a very, very important part of the story that I'm about to tell you. I'm not so sure of most of what happened myself, but hopefully my friends can fill in the blanks for me.

Now then, should I start with how I died or the first text message that Magnus Bane sent me? I think I'll start with the latter since I just gave you a spoiler.

Actually, make that two spoilers.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the main character and live through her memory of first 'meeting' Magnus Bane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a cute little thing. I wanted to start off with humor, and then get into the deep stuff ;) Hope you all enjoy~

Believe me when I say that I really do not have a lot of friends. I mean, I know a lot of people (and I do mean  _a lot_ ), but I don't have many  _friend_ friends. The people I used to call friends... Well, we kind of drifted apart some time before I left for college.

Yeah, I cried, but I knew it was going to happen eventually. One of my grandfathers once told me that an average friendship lasted about seven years. For people that met during middle school, we lasted longer than I thought we would, despite all the fights and arguments that we got into.

But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. I said that I had a story to tell and that's why you're here, right? I'm pretty sure that my life is not that particular story. Not at this moment, anyways.

Now then, the day I got that first text message was a rather dreary one...

* * *

Rain. Lots of it. I rather liked rain, but this pouring of buckets was a bit much. Not to mention, it was cold.

"Bloody winter." If I was back home in London, I would say that it was a rather normal day, but I moved to one of the warmer parts of America and had gotten used to the constant warmth of the sun.

Sighing, I decided that I had too little time to ponder over the cold and tried rushing to my next class, the dreaded thing known as Calculus. I was almost late; Professor almost closed the door on my bag.

Personally, the math itself is easy; it's the droning voice of the Professor that kept making me want to go to sleep. For an old man, he could sure write quickly. The note-taking is probably what saved my life several times from getting sent to the headmistress of the school.

Let me just tell you that college is just like high school; only with older, slightly more mature people. Throw in fraternities, sprinkle in some beer, and add a dash of constant sex, then you would get your typical college week. Bonn appetit, I guess, if you like that kind of stuff. The parties are fun, though, if you play your cards right.

Glancing around, I could see the squares of light underneath desks and in laps, hiding from the eyes of the old professor. For an old man, he's pretty sharp and quick.

"Don't forget your assignment of a five-page essay over the chapter this weekend. Dismissed." Scrapings of chairs and rustling quickly turned into silence once the students heard the glorious  _D_ word. I am no exception; I mean, the teacher was creepy enough when there was a class of students. I would hate to meet him alone.

As was my habit now-a-days, I checked my phone as soon as I was out of class. Imagine my surprise to see a text from an unknown number.

From: Unknown

_Hello~ I'm Magnus and_  
_would like to be your  
_ _friend ;}_

To: Anastasia

Magnus? Sounds like a cool name, probably a male, but who in the hell around here is named Magnus? Shrugging, I decided that the polite thing to do would be to answer him.

From: Anastasia

_Um, I'm sorry, but I_  
_don't know you. How_  
_did you get this  
_ _number?_

To: Unknown

SEND

Looking up at the sound of the rain, I scowled at the offending water. "Bloody water and bloody rain and bloody..." and so continued my oh-so-creative curses (sarcasm, darlings) as I and other people ran through the drenching. Of course, me being me, I forgot my umbrella at my dorm room.

My phone buzzed again in my pocket.  _'He answered?'_ Well, I expected to never get a reply, really, but hey, whatever you know. I couldn't answer right away and so decided to run even quicker so I could enjoy pizza delivery and some sleep. Screw the homework, I am catching up on some sleep!

Though the buzzing of my phone reminded me that I was trying to talk to a stranger named Magnus.

Personally, I was glad that I had my own dorm room. It made things a lot easier in the terms of privacy. The dorm room looked half-empty, though, so there's the down-side to that one.

I promptly dropped my jacket and looked at the new message. You know, now that I look back on this, I was really excited to talk to this new person.

From: Unknown

_I randomly started_  
_texting random_  
_numbers. You're_  
_the first person to_  
_answer me. And I_  
_already told you my  
_ _name. What's yours?_

To: Anastasia

RESPOND?

I swear that I was smirking right then and there. From the two texts that he sent me, I could tell that he would be an interesting person to talk to. Would it be so bad to give him my name? First, I needed to save his number and name so that I can actually talk to him without calling him by a name that is not his own.

From: Anastasia

_Well, you strike me_  
_as a very interesting_  
_person, so I'll be your_  
_new friend. The name's_  
_Anastasia, pleasure to  
_ _meet you._

To: Magnus

This is actually more than I could have hoped for in a dismal day like this. I got a new friend and it was the weekend. Though the rain kind of almost ruined the good mood that I was set in.

 

 


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By this point, Magnus and Alexandra have been friends for years. Magnus has a big 'secret' to tell his best friend...

Magnus and I talked for hours on end sometimes. There were a couple of times where we would call each other to simply talk things out. May I just say that he has a damn sexy voice? Nearly melted me into a puddle.

One of the more interesting conversations that we had was when he told me that he was bisexual. To this very day, I still believe that he is as gay as the sunshine is bright.

* * *

"Ana, I need to tell you something." I turned, looked at my phone, and glared.

"If you tell me that you're a woman, I swear, on the seven rings of hell, that I will reach through my phone and bloody well strangle you." He laughed at me! That boy had the nerve to laugh at my (what I thought) very creative threat. It at least released the tension that he was building. Growling, I turned back to my fridge and continued looking for eggs so I could finally have some breakfast. Or lunch, it seemed late enough.

"No, no, darling, nothing that dramatic, I assure you." Magnus seemed to purr through the damn phone. His tone then turned more serious. "Anastasia, this is important." My phone acted so innocent when I looked at it.

I opted for Lucky Charms instead of eggs and settled into my chair to listen. "Alright then, what's up?" Silence. Was it really that bad? Setting aside my food, I leaned forward and smiled at Magnus, even though he couldn't see it. "Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me."

A soft sigh before, "I'm bisexual."

Really? That's the big news?! I was pissed. "MAGNUS BANE!" The phone jumped up as I slammed my hands down on the table. "Don't you ever dare scare me like that! I thought you were going to tell me you had a tumor! Bloody hell..." Well, he bloody had me scared!

For the first time since Magnus had texted me three years ago, he was silent. Possibly shocked. "Well, males or females?" I asked.

The answer was almost instantaneous. Then I cursed. OF course he was gay, why didn't I see it before?! At least I knew that he was still there. "So you don't care?"

"Should I?"

I thought I heard a clap and a squeal of delight on the other end. "This is perfect! Now we can talk about a lot more things, like boys and clothing and GLITTER!" 

I laughed. No matter what, he could always make me laugh. "As long as you don't swath me in glitter, we're good." I joked. "Hey, I got to go, I need to get dressed for work. Text you later?"

He was the one to laugh this time. "Of course sweetie! Text you later!" The dial tone rang throughout the household, causing my new Egyptian Mau to glare at it.

"It's alright, Ankh, it won't harm you." I told him, softly petting his head. He ran off somewhere, probably for a new napping place or something.

My work was boring, really, but being a bartender at a night club has its perks, such as the patrons and the never ending music. That was probably my favorite part; there never really is silence. That's one of the things that I hate about life; the silence.

It really ticks me off.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Don't hate? XD


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, now we get to meet the ultimate asshole: Valentine, everybody :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, for most of the appearances of the characters, I'm going to be using the movie as a reference. This also applies to the demons. Sorry if this annoys anybody, it's just easier on me to remember and research what they look like.

The bar is another really important thing in this story. Personally, the bar, called Night's Wing, is the place where everything that is pivotal happened.

Such as meeting the man that killed me, but the actual 'killing' comes up a little bit later. Like, after a few weeks of meeting the guy and then being chased by weird... _things._

But the actual first meeting is important...

* * *

Friday nights were always busy. Though bartending itself was a rather boring job, it was the one night where I could show off all of my tricks.

It's the most money we make in a consecutive week and the most tips that I receive in that same week. The setting of fire is probably my favorite trick out of them all.

During my flipping of bottles and amazing everyone that was watching, this guy caught my eye. He was a golden tan with what looked like black dreadlocks pulled back. He seemed to be staring straight at me, in which I responded with adding more flair to what I was currently doing.

Flip, catch, spin, repeat, pour and set fire. It had a certain rhythm to it and made me more relaxed than other times, other than when I was speaking to Magnus. Yet, his eyes stayed glued to me. It was severely creepy.

He finally approached me when I was collecting the tips. His eyes shined a light green in what seemed to be amusement. Putting on my signature greet-the-customer smile, I asked him if he would like anything. For a moment there, he looked confused, as if he couldn't believe that I was actually talking to him. He then responded with a request of a Bloody Mary.

Whoever he was, he watched me very carefully as I mixed the some-what spicy drink. I still wonder as to why they call the Bloody Mary a Bloody Mary. I collected my money and thanked him for ordering something while he was here.

"What are you?" His voice was nice; it held only curiosity, but I thought that there was something that swam under the curiosity.

"Um, sir? I'm not sure what you mean..."

"You're not a demon, and you're not a Shadowhunter, so what are you?" I decided then that he was probably drunk (though I haven't served him any alcohol before the Bloody Mary... which was already drained) and answered instead with, "sir, I'm human and you're drunk. Please call a cab and go home."

Those eyes stared through me before he nodded, thanked me, and simply left.  _'Strange man...'_ I thought, going back to entertaining and pouring drinks for all of these people.

* * *

That was the first time I met Valentine. He came back four times after that; each time on a Friday. He would stand in the back, watch me 'perform' and then ask for a Bloody Mary. He introduced himself to me on our third meeting. He would ask me whether I was a demon (as if) or a Shadowhunter, which I still do not know completely what the hell that is.

The sixth meeting is when everything went down the train.

Bloody bigot.

 

 


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prayer for help. Will it be heard, or will Anastasia be left to the jaws of death?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May contain trigger warnings of: death, implied rape, and some other triggers that I may not be aware of. Please be careful in reading.
> 
> Italics - Alexandra  
> Bold - Magnus

If I knew what Valentine meant when he said 'demon' or 'Shadowhunter,' Things would have been a hell of a lot simpler for me. Like how I found out about the whole other world that was living beside me. That's after I die, of course.

So, chase or calling Magnus? Hm, decisions, decisions...

* * *

We were closing up on Friday night. I tried going home early sometimes since I really do not like New York at night (how there are empty alleyways and streets in the 'city that never sleeps' I shall never know), but of course it never works.

I waved to my manager, finally able to walk home once the place was properly cleaned and locked up. During this walk, I was texting Magnus, who was having a hell of a time at a party.

' _So, who is he?_ '  
**'He is a blue-eyed beauty~** '  
_'Do you even know his name?_ '  
**'Not yet, but I will~'**  
_''Flirt. Shameless flirt._ '  
**'You still love me~** '  
_'Sadly, yes._ '

This was the normal banter between the two of us, but he had taken a recent shine to this blue-eyed black-haired beau of a man. it was so a crush and he has yet to get a damn name out of the guy. I told him that I better be the maid of honor when they get married, which I got a major freaking squeal (is that what the Americans called it?) out of him. Magnus is such an amusing man sometimes.

"Why are you alone out here?" I turned and saw Valentine leaning against the lamp post that I had just passed by. I shrugged it off as being too busy texting Magnus to notice him.

I frowned, noting that this was the first time that I had ever encountered him outside of the club.

His eyes narrowed a bit and he asked again, except with a little more malice. I shrugged in response. Valentine did not need to know that I was heading home. He then sighed and stood like a soldier, his hands folded behind his back with a military stance. "Well, let's hope you don't have anywhere important to go tonight." Now my eyes narrowed, sensing that I should run like the Queen's army was after me.

It was stupid of me to stay there, but I digress. "Why, Valentine?" Then there were these freaky shadow things that came out of nowhere, hurdling around the light that Valentine was in. He seemed to smile politely and gave me a single warning: run.

Bloody hell, I never ran that fast in my life. Whatever those smoke things were scare the living hell out of me and I was pretty sure that those claws were not made for scratching backs! Howling and snarls soon followed after me.

'Why aren't there any bloody people?!' I thought, knowing that my chances of escape were slim enough without my attempt at speaking. Off course, the first that I thought of to actually help me was Magnus...

Who was at a party...

FUCK!

Screw it, I'm calling him anyways. Hopefully he'll know it's important. First, must find a place to call him for maybe a minute... The abandoned apartment building that I pass every day is a good place.

Finally a little bit of hope bloomed in my chest. 'Faster, faster!' Instead of doing what I wanted them to, my legs slowed down. Those snarls were incredibly closer than before. Skid around the corner and gain some time, I told myself, getting my fingers to keep a good grip on my phone. That skid only made a few of them get off course; I could hear them skid across the concrete of the STILL EMPTY streets!

Honestly, I don't know how I was able to block the door long enough to actually talk to Magnus as long as I did. Well, technically, I didn't talk to him; I left a voicemail.

The phone rang several times before Magnus' familiar voice greeted me. Another bang made me shriek in surprise ad fear. My voice shook and I tried really hard to steady it as I spoke to Magnus. I ended the call, crying my heart out and saying sorry.

The door busted open. I could almost imagine the delight and bloodlust in their shrieks.

For the first time since Mum left, I prayed.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus came knocking on their door, a female voice echoing in the back of his head. Where is she, and what happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings of death and implied rape

It was late. it was insanely late, like two am late. Magnus sighed and relaxed into his chair, snapping his fingers so he wouldn't have to physically clean up the mess.

Chairman Meow glared at him from the table, his fluffy-blue tail swaying to and fro. He pushed Magnus' buzzing phone towards him, still glaring at the warlock.

"That better not be a customer..." Magnus grumbled, picking up the phone and flipping it open. Magnus was surprised; not only did Anastasia call him (she never really did), but she called him this late and left a voicemail. "What in the world?" He quickly typed in his code, set it to speakerphone, and waited.

Heavy breathing greeted him. Confusion bit at Magnus, but that was before he could make out several bangs and creaks in the background. The warlock stood, not really liking where this was going.

_"Magnus? It's Anastasia._  
_I-I know that it's late,_  
 _but this is important."_

I particularly loud bang interrupted her. Anastasia's shriek was loud. it caused her to go into hysterics. Magnus sat on the edge of his seat, eyes glued to the phone that (unknowingly) contained the last remnant of his best friend.

" _There's this guy that_  
_has been going to the_  
 _club for the past five_  
 _or so Fridays. I only_  
 _know his name, but_  
 _he wants me dead."_

Another sob, this one a little more hysterical. Magnus did not even notice how white his knuckles had become. He could almost guess about what's happening.

" _H-his name is Valentine."_

Magnus didn't bother to stay to hear the rest of the message. He was out of the door, seemingly flying across the ground to get to the Institute.

" _The-there are these..._  
_**things** that he sent after_  
 _me. I... think they are_  
 _demons. Magnus I don't_  
 _think that I will survive tonight."_

Desperate, Magnus pounded on the door of the Institute, crying out Alec's full name. It was opened almost immediately by Alec. He was tired and really wanted to snap at whoever the hell woke him up, but snapped to attention.

Magnus was crying.

He never cried.

"Please," he pleaded, falling to his knees, a terrified expression on his face. The others arrived as Magnus spoke. "I need your help."

_"I-I'm in this abandoned_   
_apartment building down_   
_a ways from the Night's_   
_Wing bar, the-the third floor,_   
_thirteenth door. I-I don't_   
_know how long the_   
_barrier will hold up, s-so..."_

Clary, the ever-loving saint that she was, knelt next to him and asked him what was wrong. Magnus grabbed her hands in an iron grip, pleading with her to save his best friend. "Where is she?" Jace asked, stepping forward. even the blonde could not resist to help the warlock. Besides, he still had to repay Magnus for helping both Clary and Alec.

Magnus paused, think, then shakily stood up and gestured for everyone to follow. by this time, everyone was awake and on full alert.

" _I am so sorry,_  
_s-sorry that I broke_  
 _my promise, sorry that_  
 _I had to die..."_

Footsteps echoed along the walls as the group ran. Magnus did everything he could to remember the name of the bar-club-thing that Anastasia worked at. Oh, how he wished that he did stay to find out what happened. Then again, he probably wouldn't have the strength to do what he needed to do.

" _Find my mum_  
_and tell her_  
 _that I said_  
 _I-I'm sorry..."_

They passed by her apartment, past the building that Anastasia was in, and finally stopped at the lamp where Valentine appeared to Anastasia several hours earlier.

Magnus stopped, frustrated that he couldn't think of anywhere to go. He kicked the lamp in frustration and turned, ready to go to her apartment next. He froze. Was that Anastasia?

" _I'm sorry._  
_I-I am s-_  
 _so s-sorry..."_

The apparition turned and ran. Naturally, Magnus followed. The white apparition flickered back and forth, but the group was relentless in following Magnus, whom seemed like to be the only one to see the ghost of Anastasia.

" _I'm s-sorry...  
I-I'm sorry..."_

She led the way up to what seemed to be an apartment building. They followed her up to the third floor and down to the left. By then, they didn't need her as a guide. They could see the splintered remains of a door and blood. The blood was everywhere.

Magnus nearly puked from the smell, but pushed on to face what he knew was in that room.

_"Goodbye, Magnus..."_

The warlock cradled the girl's head, his tears returning in full force. He whispered her name and apologies over and over, wishing he was there, wishing he could just save her so they could laugh together one more time.

"I prayed you know." All heads turned towards the frail voice that belonged to Anastasia. "I-I think that is the only reason that I am a-alive." She didn't move, probably couldn't anyways. She used her last breath in that silence to say thank you.

_"I'm sorry..."_

_"END OF MESSAGE_  
WOULD YOU LIKE TO  
_DELETE MESSAGE?"_


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a glimpse of Anastasia's past, this time a visit from her mother. What does this mean for the now dead woman?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triggers for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

My mum came to visit me once. By then, I was finally done with college and applying for a full-time job at Night's Wing, and it was also about six or seven months since Magnus first texted me.

I like my mum. She's a kind woman with a bit of that iron maiden in her. Victoria was my hero when I was younger and then she was my best friend as I grew up.

It kind of reminds me that I really did hurt her when I left for America. However, she forgave me, and I still hurt her. When I act like the dad I've never met, it reminds me of how awful I would've actually turned out if it wasn't for my mum.

* * *

I was excited. Mum was coming for a weekend visit! You could probably understand why I was excited; I haven't seen her in about eight years.

Ankh stared at me from his perch on top of the refrigerator, probably wondering why the hell I was rushing around like a mad woman, stuffing things where they should be and cleaning everything in an OCD fashion. Normally, he would be in my way, begging for something or other since I tend to forget anything and everything, but he's a smart Egyptian Mau and I think that he knew that this was important to me.

A couple of hours later, the doorbell rang. Mum came through without knocking and said, "sweety, are you here?"

"Mum!" She was still taller than me by a couple of inches, but I was slowly catching up to her. "How have you been? Would you like some tea?" I sat her down at the table, listening to her babble on about London, the weather, her trip over here, and how lonely she has been since I've been gone.

Thinking back on that, it still hurt even after eight years. After Dad left Mum when she was still pregnant with me, she hated being alone. Mum surrounded herself with people and animals so she could forget how much it hurt that people would leave her. Mum once told me that she developed it when she was younger, but she never told me the exact age.

There were a lot of mysteries surrounding Mum, but I loved her none-the-less.

"Sorry, mum," I told her, setting some sweet chamomile tea in front of her. "I wanted a better education." I wanted to get away from the memory of my father is what I wanted to say. "I'm sorry if you were alone, Mum." She smiled and waved it off.

"I had the animals and my job to keep myself surrounded." Mum sighed at the warmth of the tea. "Though Elizabeth does not make tea the same way that you do."

"That's because I make the best tea and crumpets mum." We had a good laugh about that; we both knew that the butlers of the queen probably made better tea than I ever would.

Laughter tapered off into warm silence. For some reason, it was never awkward around mum; she seemed to always have this calm aura that seeped into the environment around her. It was just another mystery that made Mum... Mum.

"So what have you been up to, my little fairy?" I smiled at the nickname that my mum gave me. When I was younger, I wanted to be a beautiful fairy when I grew up. Victoria always indulged me, and so had always called me her little fairy.

"I applied for that job a while back and got it. Also, remember Magnus?"

"That man that you always talked about? Yes."

"Apparently he's bi, but I swear if he was any gayer he would outshine the sun!" Then I shrugged. "Sadly for me but great for him, he's enamored with this guy and only sees me as his best friend." Mum's smile grew sad and she apologized, but I said, "I'm over it, so it's just me and Ankh now."

Said Egyptian Mau jumped onto the table and immediately demanded attention from the both of us. I rolled my eyes but did as the little spoiled cat demanded. "He's lovely, Anastasia." I nodded in response. Ankh then curled up into a ball and proceeded to purr happily right there on the table.

"Honey, there's a reason why I came." I looked up to my mum and was startled. Victoria suddenly seemed much older, more weary and weather-beaten than she had ever been. She reached across the table and held my hands in her own. Her smile was small and shined with the sadness that now radiated from her. "In about a month, I'll be having a surgery. It's to attempt to remove the cists and tumors that I have obtained."

Her hands, thankfully, anchored me to the earth. Mum, dying? And a surgery... "Why haven't you told me before?"

"I wanted you to be happy for a bit longer. Don't worry," she patted my hands. "I'll be fine." Victoria stood up and laid a kiss on my head. The area tingled from that little kiss.

I couldn't ask her to promise me that she would be okay, that she would survive. Fate was a funny thing and didn't always turn out the way that I wanted them to.

"Sweety, I have to catch my flight." I looked up in shock. She was leaving already?! She just got here. "Now stay safe, okay? Remember that little prayer?"

I started to recite the thing from memory:

_"In the first darkness,_   
_protect us with the_   
_white of life._

_In the second darkness,_   
_protect us with the_   
_grey of reality._

_In the third darkness,_   
_protect us with the_   
_black of dreams._

_Let all our prayers_   
_protect us with our_   
_love and faith in You._

_Amen"_

Mum smiled, a proud twinkle in her eye. "Good girl." We then exchanged our goodbyes before she left in the taxi cab that brought her here. "Good luck, Mum." I said, watching the car leave until it was long out of my sight. "May your faith and love in Her bring you through this surgery."

Sighing, I turned to walk back into the warmth of my apartment.

"Amen."

* * *

Mum's a really strange person. She gave that poem to me when I was younger and always said that it would help me one day when my time came.

Honestly, before my death, I never really understood the poem.

However, considering where I'm at the moment, it would probably explain a log the of things that I couldn't previously explain about Mum.

Out of all the things that have happened to me in the past few days, getting a white cup shoved in my face by a dead woman seemed to be a very small thing.

I sighed and drank the mystery contents, reciting the poem in my head. Mum has some explaining to do when I woke back up.


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone waited around her dead body, not really believing that Magnus is friends with such a human. She's dead, though, and they have to deal with the consequences.
> 
> Then Victoria walks in and just screws everyone's perception of reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning of implied rape and death and all that snazz.

Magnus had listened to the voicemail message five times already. He glanced over at Anastasia's dead body and tensed up in frustration. Five days... Five days and there was no sighn of her mother or father, and he severely doubted that Anastasia had any current siblings to speak of. As Magnus fiddled with the phone, little sparks of magic came off of him from sheer frustration and exhaustion.

"Calm down, Magnus." Alec laid a comforting hand on the warlock's shoulders. It calmed him down immediately. "I'm sure her parents will show up once they get the letter." They were all feeling the stress; usually, the young Shadowhunters were on top of demons and in top form, no sweat. However, the death of the mysterious girl with black hair and pale skin sent almost everyone on edge.

Especially since a cat with an ankh on it's collar strolled right on in, plopped down on Anastasia's body and attacked nearly anybody that came within distance of its claws.

Really, Jace thought he had seen stranger things happen in his lifetime. "If that cat does not leave soon, I'm going to strangle it." The cat hissed in response. Magnus only flicked his bright green and gold eyes to the conflict before giving a deep sigh. "I'll try to stay calm." Alec nodded then pulled up a chair beside him, watching the dead body be incredibly calm in a whirlwind of chaos.

"He's a really pretty Egyptian Mau." Clary commented a little later, trying to break the newly acquired silence.

"How do you know it is a he?" Simon finally put his own two cents in. He was tossing a ball between his hands to give himself something to do.

"You already know how, Simon." Clary retorted, staring at the cat, who was watching the ball with intense interest. Simon shrugged and kept silent, not really knowing what to do in a situation like this.

Silence reigned the room once again. It was really hard to just sit there and do nothing but watch Anastasia as if she would miraculously breath again. Magnus sighed again and started flipping his phone open and close. The high warlock of Brooklyn knew he shouldn't care so much (humans died every day, why should he care?), but he had grown attached to this one.

She was... strange, but a good kind of strange. It was the one where Magnus thought he had found a kindred spirit within Anastasia. Now that wonderful spirit had flown into her own little version of Heaven. Magnus secretly hoped that the angels the Shadowhunters always prayed to would take special care of Anastasia.

The cat then stood and pawed at the air in the direction of the door. A knock resounded through the room, sending an unwanted chill up and down Magnus' back. The door opened immediately afterwards allowing in a woman that was tall and walking with a kind of grace that was almost foreign to Magnus. She had graying black hair and blue eyes that were dull in color but calming in presence.

Jace reacted almost immediately. His sword at her throat stopped her from advancing any further into the room. "Who are you and how did you get in here?" He hissed out to the stranger, muscles taut and ready to pounce if she was deemed a threat to anybody in this room.

The stranger smiled, her eyes sparkling brightly "It's been a long time since there was a sword pointed at me." A chuckle. "Well, since you have entertained me so, I will answer your questions, but first..." She side-stepped Jace and went to Anastasia's side, giving the cat a treat as she stood on the opposite side of Magnus and Alec. "I would like to check on my daughter."

Clary nearly snapped. The woman grated her nerves with how calm she was about her own daughter's death. The red head held her anger down however, watching the mother of Anastasia caress Anastasia's face so gently, so lovingly. It almost hurt to watch because Clary could literally feel the love that the mother had for her dead child. It reminded her of her own feelings when her mother put herself into that damned coma.

"I'm sorry..." Magnus said, looking down at his phone. He cursed his own stupidity. "I could have saved her..." Tears gathered at the corner of the warlock's eyes, effectively blurring his vision a bit.

"Oh, pish posh!" All heads snapped back towards the mother, who was still staring at her daughter. "You did all you could..." Silence. Simon was slightly shocked. This was definitely one person whom he did not want to become acquainted with. "Now all we have to do is wait for Anastasia to wake back up! It's been five days, correct? She should be waking up at any moment now.

Isabelle decided to speak up. "Excuse me, miss...?"

"Victoria, and drop the miss. It makes me feel older than I already am."

"Victoria, are you delusional, or possibly insane?"

"Izzy! Be polite!" Alec snapped at his younger sister.

"Possibly delusional, but insane? No, no, or else her Majesty, the Queen of England would not allow me to work for her!" Another chuckle. Jace wasn't sure what to think of this Victoria woman; she could be a damn good actress or truly delusional. "Now, off of Anastasia, Ankh, or else she won't be able to breathe." The cat, now labeled as Ankh, seemed to grumble a bit before stepping off of Anastasia's body gently and settling himself by his mistress' head.

_'Yeah, definitely delusional...'_ Jace thought.

"Um, ma'am?" Victoria looked to Alec and smiled politely. "Where is Anastasia's father?"

"Gone. Probably living his life happily with another woman." Victoria shrugged. "He hasn't been here for her and he certainly will not start now." Throughout all of that little speech, Magnus could not find any bit of malice in Victoria's voice, just... acceptance.

He was about to ask one of his own questions when a white apparition caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look more clearly, only to see it fly across his vision. Magnus followed it to find it standing next to Victoria, who was looking at him with a critical eye.

"You can see her, I suppose?"

Magnus only nodded, not really getting what was going on, though he had a feeling that he should know.

"Well, that's good. That means Anastasia is here." Victoria smiled. The apparition slowly dissolved behind her, floating into Anastasia's body. Once the last of it touched her skin, Anastasia's eyes snapped open. She sat up and took deep, harsh breaths.

Victoria's smile widened. "Welcome back, my little fairy."


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anastasia finally meets Magnus' little gang of friends, and Victoria answers very few questions with vague answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

Very little is explainable in this world, truly. It's something that I have learned, living with Mum and all of the other things that I have seen. Wings? Trick of the light. Fangs? Probably someone forgot that it wasn't Halloween. Flying? Yeah, haven't figured that one out yet.

So, dead lady is also unexplainable. Does that mean I'm seriously insane or is there something else that I've been missing? For instance; coming back to life is also not easily explainable, especially when you know you have died.

And mum, acting like it was completely normal? Yeah, definitely a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

I love breathing. I don't think I'll ever cherish something that mindless as I cherish breathing now.

Ankh seemed to be perfectly content sitting in my lap and purring. Because of my slightly blurred vision, I could only guess at what else was surrounding me.

Closing my eyes, I tried slowing down my breathing. If I didn't, I would probably choke on air and die again. Not something I would like to experience again.

"S-She's alive?!" I looked over to see two gorgeous men sitting at my bedside. One has pale skin with black hair and some of the bluest eyes that I had ever seen. At least my vision was clearing up. Next to him was an Asian looking man with hair that seemed to sparkle insanely. His eyes were strange; were those cat-slits? He was the most familiar of the two. I laid a hand over where my heart was and felt a gentle thud where it should be.

"As far as I know, yes." My throat was dry and made my voice sound extremely hoarse. I looked around and saw that there were at least four other people that I didn't recognize. Two boys, two girls; one boy was handsome with slicked back blonde hair and nice blue eyes. he looked tall next to the red-headed girl with bright green eyes. Over a ways from them was a beautiful young woman with long black hair and blue eyes. She was probably a sibling to the black haired guy. Next to her stood another guy, though he stayed in the shadows. What I could make of him, though, was that he was extremely pale. Probably not healthy.

A teacup was then shoved into my face. I followed the hand to see a familiar looking woman with greying hair and laughing blue eyes that were dull from age. "Drink this, my little fairy, and you'll feel better." I narrowed my eyes, trying to place why the two people were so familiar...

The woman paused and then continued to speak. "Well, forgot about the memory loss part." She smiled softly. "I'm your mother, Victoria, remember?" It took a minute, but I did remember her... and that bloody rhyme she had me memorize. "Do you know anybody in this room?"

"Magnus Bane." I answered, twisting back around to smile at the hot Asian man. It didn't get very far since I was then engulfed in a hug. Magnus was hugging me tightly, silently crying his eyes out. "Sorry for breaking my promise." I muttered, hugging him back. This was the only other time that we had met in person, so I really did owe him an apology that was a little less wimpy than 'I'm sorry that I broke my promise.' Pathetic, really. "Why am I so stiff?" I asked the blue-eyed guy in front of me. He looked extremely uncomfortable with that question, but my mother had no trouble answering for him.

"You were dead for five days, sweety."

Sighing, I disentangled myself from Magnus' embrace and turned to look at my mother. "Speaking of being dead, what the hell?! Who was that, what was that weird ass place I was in, and who the hell are these people!?" More chuckles. What is it with people laughing at me?

"Drink the tea while everyone introduces themselves." Grumbling, I did as I was told and sipped the warm concoction. It was sweet, with an orange tang accompanying it.

The blond man decided to do his introductions first. "Jace Wayland." Short, sweet, that's good. He laid a protective arm across the red-head's shoulders, introducing her as Clary Fray. Honestly, I would have thought she would have a more elaborate name, but I guess that's what happens when you have red hair.

"Isabelle Lightwood." The girl with black hair nodded as her way of greeting. The guy that was sitting introduced himself as Alec Lightwood. I smirked, glad that I was correct in assuming that they were siblings.

"And the vampire hiding in the shadows is Simon." Said guy protested at Jace's obvious barb, causing Clary to step in to try to get them to behave.

Magnus was silent through all of this, probably in shock himself about the whole thing. "Thanks for coming for me." I muttered, feeling a blush paint my face.

"I'm glad I did." He replied, seeming more relaxed than when I first 'woke up.'

"Okay, so where am I?"

Isabelle was the one to answer my question this time. "You're in the Idrid Institute run by my mother, Maryse Lightwood." I nodded my thanks.

"So, Mum, are you going to answer any of my questions?"

"I can only answer one of your questions, my little fairy, and in answering this question, I'm going to assume that you are asking about the place you were in when you were dead." I nodded my head, a gesture for her to continue. "Well, to put it simply, you were in Death's home." Silence. Even the bickering males had shut up long enough to hear what Mum said. "Did you drink from the white cup?"

I scoffed. "The lady shoved it into my face. Not like I had a choice." She nodded, then glanced at her watch. Victoria stood up abruptly and started to head for the door.

"Sweety, I have to go." She laid a kiss on my forehead. "You're going to have to find a new home since your apartment was destroyed by the bloody git who killed you." She then left with a backwards wave and an "I'll see you later!"

"She's strange," was Jace's first comment after Mum left.

"That doesn't even begin to describe Victoria Dracoling." I said, leaning onto Magnus for support. "I'm going to sleep and you're going to be my pillow, Magnus." Without hearing his reply, I fell asleep on him.

Hey, coming back to life is a lot more work than dying!


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group briefly discuss things and Maryse Lightwood sees the once dead girl now alive. Things are going to get complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

"We have more questions than we have started with and no way to find the answers until Sleeping Beauty awakens." Jace was exasperated. Everything was getting really strange (considering what he does for a living, this is  _really_ strange) and almost no one had the answers that was needed. The blonde thought that the only one with answers was the old woman who walked out on them all.

"Then what do you propose we do? If you haven't noticed, she can see us!"

"We have glamours on, Simon, of course she could see us."

"Isabelle, don't antagonize the vamp."

"Oh, be nice Jace!"

"Yes, love."

Magnus rolled his eyes at the group before him, but silently wondered on what they were going to do now. He didn't dare tell them that she could see them without their glamours (that would cause a whole lot of shit that he did not need to deal with) and he really didn't want to bring attention to himself... again. Upon reflection, Magnus thought that him crying (in front of Alexander, no less) was just a bit embarrassing. Really, his make-up probably looked atrocious afterwards.

However, Alexander's eyes burning craters into his head did not help Magnus forget that little embarrassing bit. The warlock's eyes watched Anastasia sleep. His smile softened, and he thought, ' _it was worth it, every excruciating moment was definitely worth it.'_

Alec, on the other hand, watched the warlock soften up in the presence of this seemingly human girl. A flair of jealousy sprang up, but Alec buried it. Why was he so jealous? Was it because Magnus used to smile at him like that? Was it because she was actually  _touching_ what was his? Alec sighed, deciding that it was all of the above. Really, he did not have a reason to be jealous at all; they broke up a while back. That was the end of it.

However, Alec knew that there never really was an end to anything when it involved Magnus.

The door opened again and showed the Lightwood mother, Maryse. "Is she alright?" She quickly shut the door behind her, eyes traveling across the group. The poor woman almost fainted in shock to see Anastasia  _alive_ and  _breathing._ "Okay, there are a lot of things that are possible, but really, coming back to life should  _not_ be one of those things."

"Apparently it is, Mom." Isabelle said, her normal sarcasm gone. "And before you ask, no, we do not know how. We're also pretty sure that she's human."

Maryse sighed. "Looks like the Silent Brothers will have to take a look at her." Magnus tensed up at that. Sometimes, the Shadowhunters themselves were scary, but those Silent Brothers really rankled him to the core. Was it not enough that she was alive?

"What for?" Well, at least Magnus was not the only one who had doubts about the whole thing; Clary was on the same wavelength that he was on. "We all have sight runes on, and she's not dangerous!"

"I'm sorry, Clary, but I can't break too many rules or else we would all be in trouble." Clary looked like she was about to protest more, but fell silent when Jace silently told her to be quiet. Maryse left the room, dreading when things would get complicated again, as they undoubtedly were going to be.

"Since we don't have answers, how about we hunt down the mother? She's bound to have them."

"For once, vamp, I agree with you."

"Guys, she's not a demon! Besides, where are we going to find her?" Clary's question stopped Jace and Simon in their tracks. "We have to wait until the girl wakes up." They agreed and settled down to wait some more.


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We delve once again into Anastasia's past, this time with her first official meeting of Magnus Bane. We also discover what promise Anastasia broke before she died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

The first time I met Magnus? Oh, that was an adventure and a half! I didn't even know it was him until after I spilled my coffee all on his  _fabulous_  shirt.

Magnus' words, not mine.

* * *

It was too damn early in the morning for this, but I really needed to get to the club to help rearrange some stuff... again. Thankfully, there was this lovely little invention called coffee that I am currently worshipping as we speak.

The girl was glad to give it to me since she seemed tired off of her ass. That, and it might have something to do with the large tip that I accidently left on her tray. Oh well, whatever, she probably needs it more than I do. She wished me a good day as I sat down.

Personally, the café looked a bit too expensive for me. It looked so fancy, but the food and drinks were so cheap! It almost reminded me of a Starbucks with cheaper items. "Ma'am, you forgot your wallet." The same girl from before held out my wallet in front of me. I thanked her, glad that there were some people in New York that were kind enough to hand me my wallet.

As I sipped my sweet caffeine, I spotted this cheesecake brownie that was practically calling my name. After making sure that I had the money to buy it (let's face it; everything in New York is pretty expensive), I stood to head to the counter. When I turned, I accidentally bumped into a person and spilled my coffee down the front of both of our shirts.

"Oh, pardon my mess!" I said, thankful that we were apparently the only two in the café. "I apologize!" the guy laughed and grabbed some nearby napkins to help clean up the mess I caused. I should really watch where I'm going more often...

"Don't worry about it, I should have also watched where I was going." I glanced up to apologize once more, but was captivated by his eyes. They were a golden green with cat-slits in them. The slits were probably some kind of genetic mutation, but that's what made them beautiful. He was of Asian descent and had a gorgeous tan with matching black spiked hair. Was that glitter? Oh well, there goes my chances of a hot date.

I then noticed that he was staring at me in what seemed to be amusement. Thus, a blush painted itself onto my cheeks.  _'Great, I'll be known as the creeper...'_ Again, the chances of me getting a date with the guy was getting further and further away, as was my chance of getting that cheesecake brownie.

I muttered my apologies again. There was something familiar about that laugh... It almost reminds me of Magnus.

Oh wow, am I slow!

"Magnus Bane?" I asked, a slow smile forming on my face.

"Took you long enough, darling." Magnus smiled again, showing off some really nice white teeth. Damn, I'm almost jealous of the man! "And all it took was coffee down my  _fabulous_ shirt!" He then pouted. Was this guy trying to give me a heart attack?

I rolled my eyes. "Well, how long have you been stalking me, stalker?"

"Tease. I actually didn't know it was you until you spilled coffee on me." He then smirked. "That, and the waitress returning your wallet was a major clue." I colored at that.

"It grew legs and walked off..."

"Whatever you say, darling." We laughed. It was nice, meeting Magnus in person; it was better than talking to him through the phone.

"Well, as compensation, what do you want?" His eyes lit up beautifully. He was bouncing with energy as he pointed out the  _same exact_ cheesecake brownie that I wanted. He should be glad that I need my coffee more than that sinful sugary substance.

The same girl from earlier served me, but she acted kind of strange when I told her that the cheesecake brownie was for my friend. She acted like Magnus wasn't even there!

"Rude," I muttered, following Magnus out of the café. "How could she not see you? You're bloody gorgeous!" Magnus shrugged in response, nibbling away at the treat. I checked the time on my phone (I kept losing my watch) and decided that I  _really_ needed to get going. "As great as it was to finally meet you in person, I really need to head to work."

Magnus pouted then sighed. "Promise we'll meet up again soon?" Who the hell could say no to a face like  _that_?!

"Promise."

* * *

Sadly, I broke that promise when I died. Really, it was on of my forethoughts weighed with immense guilt. Still, I was glad to meet Magnus. I really do think that he added a bit more of a bright glitter to my life.


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We introduce a new character, who is surprisingly very important in the mystery of the Dracoling family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

She looked over her subjects, watching them dance and laugh with no care in the world. Her regalia put her above all of these party-loving fairies. She was the Queen, the Seelie Queen to be exact.

With that serene smile on her face, the Seelie Queen rose from her throne, causing everything to still into silence. Her eyes pierced everyone in that room. They shined like grey pearls, blank and unfeeling unless they turned a deep, dark black. She walked down the steps, her footsteps echoing faintly against the walls.

Everyone bowed and stepped out of her way as she walked across the room. She turned before the door of her room. Once again sweeping her gaze across it. With an elegant sweep of her hand, the music started again. The scene resumed, only the queen had moved from her perch.

The door shut silently behind her, creating silence in the Seelie Queen's bedchambers. She glided forward, black hair glistening in her magic. The air hummed, anticipating something in the wake of the Queen.

The room then went dark, the only light shining from a white ball. The Seelie Queen glided closer, clothes flying with an unseen power.  _"Show her to me..."_ Merely a whisper, but it was a command that the power respected and knew very well.

The fog within the mirror swirled slowly, then dissipated with a shower of color. There was a woman sitting leisurely on a plane, sipping at a warm cup of tea. The Seelie Queen then petted the ball, a small smile gracing her face. The woman in the ball froze, her eyes flitting up to seemingly make contact with the Seelie Queen.

The Queen herself missed having those blues, no matter if they were dull or not. THe sweet smile turned into a malicious smirk.  _'No matter,'_ she thought. ' _My pearls suit me much better anyways.'_

The ball shattered, distorting into a reflection of the queen before they melted into the atmosphere. The room turned light again, showing that nothing had changed with the time she spent in her looking glass.

She could almost feel the worry her magic had, but she calmed it down. Her gaze then turned to where the looking glass once was.  _"My daughter, my precious daughter... Your time is close, oh so very close."_ She hummed in happiness. 

 _"Do not worry, my Victoria, you will_ _have your turn on the throne of fairies."_


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anastasia and Alec go to meet the Silent Brothers in order to get some information and someone finally gives Anastasia some information about the world she is thrust into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

"But Magnus, I'm fine!" Magnus scoffed and continued to hold the cookies over his head, making it near impossible for me to grab one. I hate tall people sometimes.

"No! You are to only eat healthy things until I have deemed you well enough."

"Magnus, that's going to take forever! You won't even let me get back to work..." I pouted, really wanting something to do.

I've been living with Magnus for a while now with the occasional checkup by those same people that surrounded me. I guessed that they wanted to be sure I was okay, but the sneaky glances and weird questions had me doubting that. Other than those visits, it's been extremely boring and I really, really want something to do.

Magnus finally handed me a couple of cookies (HA! Nobody can withstand the power of my cuteness when I pout!) and grumbled something or other about women, but I was too busy munching on my cookies to notice.

"So, is Alec the guy you're mooning over?" The Asian froze, probably in shock. He turned and raised a brow, probably wanting me to explain. "Your body language is a dead give away, but the way Alec looks at you also helps." He almost seemed hopeful when I said that.

"It wouldn't work out between us." Magnus said, a cloak of sadness hanging about him.

"Why the hell not? You two are absolutely cute together."

"There's just... too many differences between us." He really wasn't making much sense. They seriously looked like two puzzle pieces that matched each other when they were together.

"Isn't that the point of love?" Oh man, Magnus colored at that one! "No, I'm not joking. Yes, it is love, and you, my dear friend, are not going to go around pouting your eyes out when he doesn't come over." Really, he shouldn't look so shocked. "Now, come on, we're going to go fix this!"

"We're not allowed over there, Ana..."

"My ass!" I've been hanging around these Americans for way too damn long. Just as he was about to argue with me some more (with me being a Brit, there was no way I was going to lose!) when the buzzer rang. Magnus looked at me, sending me a silent message of ' _we are continuing this later,'_ then went to go answer the still buzzing thing.

I flopped onto the couch, once again bored as all hell. Ankh jumped onto my stomach and lounged there, completely content at keeping me his hostage. Magnus' cat, Chairman Meow, also lounged across my legs, completely happy to help his new friend out.

"Weirdo cats," I said, petting Ankh behind the ears. Magnus then rushed in with a stupid smile on his face. "Alec is here?" He contained a squeal as there was a knock on the door. "Just ask the bloody bloke out." That was, of course, said to myself.

"Hey, Anastasia, right?" Alec was upside down when I looked at him, but that might have something to do with me looking at him upside down. He looked so sad, just standing there in the middle of the living room. "You need to come with me to see somebody."

Okay, that was a first.

"Is Magnus coming?" Alec's blue eyes slid over to said Asian, but then snapped back to me, a small blush forming on his face. There is a chance for them! Ha, the  _LOVE_ doctor is in~!

"He's not allowed to come..."

"Says who, the pope? I call bull. Shit." I stood up, knocking the cats off (they'll get back at me later for that, I am sure) and grabbed my jacket. "So, who am I meeting?" I waved bye to Magnus and followed Alec out of the apartment. "Is it your professor or something for more questions? Seriously, I answered all of your questions  _truthfully_ and I didn't even understand half of them!" The guy sighed and rubbed one of his black marks.

"I believe you, but our higher ups need to question you and... possibly... erase your mind..."

"Woah woah woah! Wait, what?! Erase my mind for WHAT?! What did I do to deserve that? Seriously, what the fuck..." Erase my mind? Okay, okay, calm down and think; what did I do that may have deserved this?

"As I said, it is only a possibility. Of course, if you have the sight, then it's a whole other ball game."

"What do you mean by the 'Sight'?" He looked at me weirdly. "No one's explained anything to me." I grumbled. "Any time I ask, something happens to interrupt! It's bloody annoying."

"Well having the Sight means seeing... our world, I guess."

"Like what, vampires with flying motorcycles?" He just gave me a look at that. "So you're not kidding?" Alec shook his head slowly, probably thinking I was a bit crazy in the head. "Yay, I'm not insane! So there are fairies and that kind of thing?" Another nod. "Hm... COOL!"

"This changes things for you. Whether it's good or bad is another thing." I shrugged. "Do you know what a Shadowhunter is?"

"There's that word again! Vincent was asking me if I was either that or a demon, which I promise you, I am neither."

"A Shadowhunter is a half-angel half-human being that essentially protects the normal people by destroying rampant demons and making sure that they don't know about us." He silenced himself, looking at me from the corner of his eye. It's almost like he expected me to know these things.

We then turned into a graveyard. Even though it was daylight, I had the distinct feeling of trespassing onto a sacred place. "You still haven't answered my first question, and what are we doing in a graveyard?" Alec stopped in front of this grand angel statue thing. She was kneeling with wings spread wide, creating a sense of protection, but I thought she was also going to attack me. Sadly, the gravestone itself was blank.

Why build a gravestone that no one will be remembered for?

"You'll be meeting the Silent Brothers." Alec pulled something on the side and the gravestone spread like a door, revealing a marble staircase that led into darkness. "The Silent Brothers are Shadowhunters that have used their intellect to become the council over all Shadowhunters. They are judge, jury and, if needed..." The black lightened up into what looked like a marble city. I could see black veins in the white and skulls and bones embedded into the wall. Overall, it was a very awe-inspiring sight, though very creepy. "Executioner."

"You know you're not helping yourself any." Alec shrugged.

_"Well, you have brought us a strange one, Alexander Lightwood."_ Of course, I screamed and jumped behind Alec for protection (really, he's buff and stronger than me) before looking at who had spoken. The guy was colorless, bald and, frankly, scary looking with his stitched-up mouth and black eyes. The pale grey robe did not help with his complexion or creepiness factor.

"Anastasia, meet Silent Brother Drew." Um, yeah no. If I thought one Silent Brother was creepy, what the hell was I going to do in a room full of them?

"Hi..." I still didn't get out from behind Alec. Thankfully, I was tall enough to look over his shoulder at the stranger. Drew bowed his head at me. It was strange how his clothing made no sound as he moved. Maybe there really is a reason as to why they were called the  _Silent_ Brothers.

_"Follow me, Anastasia Dracoling."_ He turned and started walking, which was more like gliding since he didn't make anything close to a noise.

"Go on, you'll be fine." Alec said, pushing me out from behind him.

"You better damn well hope that I'll be fine! If I die again, I'm haunting  _your_ ass specifically!" At least that made Alec chuckle.


	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see a little bit more with the Fae Queen and see a little bit more with Anastasia and the Silent Brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

"It's almost time..." The Fae Queen cooed, lovingly caressing the ball in front of her. "Soon, the power will be all yours and I shall finally move onto the after life." Aged blue eyes glared at her from the ball, but the Fae Queen could already see the magic take hold of her.

She giggled and, with a wave of her hand, made the ball disappear. "Don't fight it, my dear Victoria, you'll only speed the process up!" The Fae Queen threw back her head and laughed joyously, throwing her arms out and spinning in one spot.

The walls were smooth, no door or window to speak of, locking the woman into the bedroom. Her magic was growing restless, sensing a new ownership about to take place.

"Tick tock, tick tock~!" She sang. "The clock is ticking and there's no where to go!" Her pearl orbs had a crazed sheen to them, mad with power and desire. "The Dracolings shall carry on the lineage! They shall forever be cursed!"

Her laughter seeped into the walls, pulsing with energy and excitement.

* * *

 _"Stand right here, Dracoling."_ The Silent Brother gestured to a gold eye emblazoned onto black marble. Despite how I thought this was all still creepy as shit, I consented and stood on the eye. Silent Brother Drew glided on, guiding my eye to see three rows of similarly dressed people standing in piers in front of me.

I looked back and was startled to see that Clary and Jace have joined Alec back behind the pillars. When the hell did they get here?! Oh well, at least I'm not alone down here.

 _"We will now begin."_ It was more than one voice that time. Fucking creepy is what it is.

Then a... hum of magic filled the air, making the hair on my arms stand on end.

Pain.

Oh god, the pain.

It was like a thousand needles going up my spine then through my eyes. I couldn't gulp in enough air to scream through the burning, the agonizing feeling of being torn apart with a hot, dull blade.

Make it stop. Make it stop, please, it hurts.

Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstooooooooooop.

MAKE. IT. STOP!

"Anastasia!"

Black.


	15. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally learn a little bit more about who Anastasia is. We also see another mystery attached to Victoria, but she is now unknowingly pulling Magnus into it. What does this all mean for Anastasia?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

_"Momma, when can we see Grandma again?"_

_"If fairies had wings, why don't they fly?"_

_"Dude, I don't care if you don't believe me; I saw that guy get on a motorcycle and fly!"_

_"Momma, why do those people have black tattoos all over their body?"_

_"Your tattoos are really pretty! Can I get one some day?"_

_"Mom, are you okay? You look... sick."_

_"Do you howl at the moon?"_

_"Mom, who's the skeleton lady?"_

_"But Mum, I want to remember Grandma! Please don't make me drink that..."_

* * *

I could faintly hear my name being called. The voice was familiar... I opened my eyes and blinked, trying to will the fuzziness away so I could see properly.

I attempted to sit up, but almost fell backwards from the pain. Someone caught me before I could hit the ground.

Looking around, I frowned at how some of the people were dressed. They were strange, to say in the least.

The pounding in my head stopped me from thinking further.

"Anastasia, are you okay?" A young woman's voice soothed the pounding. I looked up at her and frowned, trying to place where I've seen that red hair before. She was worried about me, I could tell.

A young man then looked into my eyes and frowned. "She's having memory loss again." He cursed. "Magnus is so going to be pissed."

"Alec, he would never get pissed at you." I turned to see a young man with blonde hair looking at the darker-haired male strangely. "He loves you too much." He turned to this strange looking man in a gray robe and frowned even further. "What did you find out?"

_"...This child is old, very old."_ Those beady black eyes starred at me.  _"She will not remain human for very long if her memories are anything to go by."_ I frowned. Was that the pain, them going through my head?

"That hurt, thanks." I muttered. Then my eyes latched onto the dark-haired man's arms. It was covered in swirling black designs that I had seen before. I latched onto his arm and traced one of the swirling designs. "I've seen these before..."

"What do you mean, 'won't be human for long'?" The redhead quipped, her eyes narrowing at me.

_"That is all we could recover. We could only unlock a few of her memories."_ The blonde huffed.  _"However, we have reason to believe that she is very closely related to the Seelie Queen."_

All three of them groaned.

"Come on, let's get you home." The redhead said, helping me up. "Maybe Magnus can help uncover more of your memories and get you back to normal."

I used her shoulder to steady myself, not bothering to give a reply.

I really need to talk to Mother as soon as I can.

* * *

Magnus was very impatient. He was only patient when he wanted to be and he definitely did not want to be patient right now.

He jumped at the knock on his door. How did he not hear the buzzer?

The warlock hurried to the door and glanced at the peephole. An aging blue eye stared back at him. It looked extremely familiar...

When he unlocked and opened the door for his rather strange guest, Magnus was greeted with, "we need to talk."

Victoria Dracoling walked straight passed him and into the living room, not even bothering to wait for an invitation to come in. The warlock scoffed, thinking that she was rather rude to do so, but followed her anyways.

"Mrs. Dracoling, I thought you went back home." Good way to start the conversation in Magnus' opinion.

The woman turned and glared at him, all patience and kindness gone. "I do not have the patience or the time for trivial matters, so this will be quick." She pulled a gold chain necklace from her neck and held it out to him. "Since I will no longer be here for Anastasia, I need you to give this to her." At the end of the chain swung a gold watch, which was ticking away silently.

Magnus frowned in confusion. "Why can't you give it to her?" Victoria stopped for a moment, sadness overcoming her features.

"I can't." She shook her head. "I just can't." Victoria grabbed his hand and dropped the trinket into it. "Just make sure she gets it."

"Mrow." Both warlock and Dracoling looked down at Ankh, who was sitting there looking up at them. After staring at him for a few seconds, Victoria nodded and looked at the High Warlock of Brooklyn.

"We will see each other again." With that, Victoria whisked out of the apartment, the door closing behind her softly.

Magnus ran his hand over the watch, studying it intensely. It was all gold, no other stone or metal defining it. There were raised and engraved designs, swirling and intertwining to make a dizzying pattern that Magnus could make no sense of. When he found the catch, he was frustrated to learn that he couldn't open it.

Now that he was done with his 'humane' inspection, Magnus looked with magic to see what enchantments were attached to the thing. Really, if he couldn't simply open it, then there must be some kind of magic surrounding it.

Enchantment wise, the pocket watch was  _loaded._ Besides the several layers upon the trinket, there was something inside it that made Magnus worry.

He couldn't recognize the signature and Magnus didn't know where Victoria got such large amounts of magic. Besides that, this thing was  _old._

Magnus hesitated on what he was about to do. It was clearly important that Anastasia gets this watch, but the warlock didn't know if it would harm her or not. He was conflicted on what to do, but to him, there certainly was no choice in the matter when there was the consideration of the young woman already having died once and the possibility of her dying once again.

The warlock shook his head.

No, it was already decided.

He placed the watch in a jeweled box, locking it with a spell before he hid it in the depths of his room.

Magnus could not bear to see his best friend dead again, not if he had a choice in the matter.


	16. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little filler chapter, but it gives some information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

At the time this was all going on, my head was having a waltz with a lovely thing called a migraine. It was because of all of these different memories that were racing through my mind.

Were they mine? What did they mean? Was my life a lie?

Sadly, the only thing that I could think of in this state was  _"I need to speak to Mum."_

It really sucked to be me, to be quite honest! Especially with all of the shit that was going to happen.

This time, however, I could blame Magnus, Vincent, Ankh, and Mum.

Bloody hell...

* * *

"What is it with you and losing your memories?"

"I did not 'lose' them, I just gained some new ones."

"But you did lose your memories in the city."

"Jace, you're not helping."

I sighed and held my head in my hands. The headache I've been having since meeting the Silent Council had not gone away and it was only growing with the bickering that was starting between Jace and Magnus.

To recap, yes, I did lose my memories... again, but in turn, my mind decided to give me memories of when I was younger,  _much_ younger.

Like, when I was five and I was living in England... in the eighteen-fucking-hundreds. Now I'm not even sure of my own age, much less of whatever my mother has told me over the years.

"Well, you didn't die." I looked over to see Alec smiling awkwardly at me. Poor guy, he was kind of cute when he was flustered.

Smirking, I nodded. "Yes, that would have posed some problems. I think Death would not be very happy to see me again." Alec's smile grew even more awkward. At least my humor and ability to make people awkward was still intact.

"Guys, shut up!" Isabella finally cut in. Magnus grumbled, but went back to checking on me for injuries. Jace glared at Izzy, probably ready to start another argument.

"Jace, if you do not be quiet, you will be placed on the couch."

"Clary - "

"For a  _month_."

The blonde grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

"Can we skip the love-fest and get on with our original problem here?" Alec grumbled.

"Oh, Alec, I'm a  _problem_ now?" I pouted. "And I thought we had something special going on." Jace laughed at his friend's flustered face.

Izzy shook her head at me, but I could see a hint of a smile on her face. See? I can liven up the atmosphere... at the expense of others.

"Back to reality, everyone!" Clary said, a similar smile on her own face.

I sighed and tried to relax. Yay, more questions.

"Why do you keep getting memory loss? It's becoming more and more of a frequent thing with you. Honestly? It's worrying  _all_ of us." Alec's eyes slid over to Magnus just to emphasize who 'all' was.

Smooth, Alec, real smooth.

I shrugged in response. How the hell should I know?

"How about we hear it from a professional?" We all looked at Magnus as he spoke. "Every time you have lost your memories so far, it is because of an fluctuation of magic that is specifically targeted towards fighting whatever spell is placed on you."

"So, when the brothers looked in her mind, their rummaging caused the magic in her to react violently, right?" Magnus puffed up in pride hearing Alec speak.

Why is it so obvious that they care for each other but DON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?! It just doesn't make sense in my mind...

Speaking of things not making sense...

"Wait, guys, I have to clear something up real quick." I stood up and walked to where I can look at everyone. Luckily, it was right behind the couch. "You - " I pointed at Jace first. "Are a... Shadowhunter, right?" I think I've finally shocked the blonde into silence. I looked behind him to see Clary hesitantly nod. "Alright, that explains the fucking tattoos then." My next victim was Magnus. "And you're a warlock, right?"

Magnus nodded. "how do you know?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "Look, I can't wrap my brain around it either, but I may or may not be pretty damn old." Now here comes the fun part. Joy. "I also may or may not have met one of your ancestors in seventeenth century England..." Silence. "By the way, is it true that vampires fly by motorcycle? Because if it is, I'm calling bullshit on all of the stories I've read.

Because really, that's not cool."


	17. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Anastasia have a very important talk about what Magnus should do about Alec. Ana gives some very good advice, and we have to see how Magnus will react and keep that information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for implied rape and death and all that snazz.

Explaining things took longer than it should have, considering everyone kept asking me questions that I did not have answers to at that time.

Why do I say that?

Well, when you are dead, (permanently, by the way) things tend to become clear for you.

Like, a lot of things.

* * *

It's exhausting dealing with unbelieving Shadowhunters. I had to prove I wasn't bat-shit crazy by getting Magnus to take off his sight glamour.

He was almost killed by Alec when Magnus told them that he didn't have it on.

Proved my point, though.

So, now they were off, talking to some high-up person on what to do. I wasn't a mundy, so I don't think they can treat me like a normal mundy, but I wasn't an Underworld citizen (Magnus had to explain that to me) so they couldn't really treat me as they normally would for that case.

Overall, I wasn't a normal case at all.

However, that wasn't what I found amusing about the whole thing. Because of me, Magnus and Alec had to spend more time around each other. Jace and Clary went to their library to see if they could dig up any information on my family (I don't know why they would have any, but whatever) and Isabelle went to some clubs run by Downworlders to see if they have information on my family, so Alec was the one who voted to stay behind and watch me.

At Magnus's apartment.

Why do I find this amusing?

It's because of the stupid glances the two of them have been sending each other. You know,  _those_ glances, the ones that speak of long lost love and hope and broken hearts.

Okay, so I might actually be bat-shit insane, but they are so adorable! In my humble opinion, anyways.

I was only told that they were together then broke up for some reason or another by Jace. Blondie knows more than he lets on.

So, I'm kind of determined to get them back together. I need to do at least one thing right in this whole damn mess.

So, I stole Alec's phone and put in Magnus's number. Why am I doing this? Like I said, they are too damn adorable. Sadly, I can't do much more than that for Alec. Boy is way too shy and Magnus would more than likely recognize my style of texting.

Magnus, however, is going to be hard to convince. He is stubborn, but it's cute, because he thinks he's doing all of this for Alec.

Time to do the nice tactic first.

* * *

I finally took my opportunity when Alec went out to get Thai for dinner - Magnus could burn water, and that takes some serious talent.

"Magnus, we need to talk." Magnus waved his hand to join him on the couch. After I sat down, Ankh jumped up and cuddled up to me, demanding attention once again. Spoiled rotten cat.

"What is it?" He asked with a smile on his face, watching some fashion runway show. I don't really follow this kind of stuff, so I didn't pay much attention to it. However, it was distracting Magnus.

Oh well, I need the noise cover.

"It's about Alexander." I said, keeping my eyes on my purring cat. I could feel his eyes burrow into my head.

"What about him?" The Asian answered after a pause. It was almost... cold, like either he didn't care about the love of his life or he didn't want to have this conversation. Ha, like he could guess what I'm about to dump on his sparkly ass.

"Well, I wanted to know what you think of him." I looked up and glared, catching him in the middle of opening his mouth. "And don't give me some petty bullshit about not caring for what he does since it doesn't concern you; we both know you better than that, Magnus Bane."

Magnus looked at me for a bit. He then just sighed and slumped down, becoming the picture of defeat. Okay, did not expect that at all. I turned off the TV and turned myself (my cat becoming very disgruntled at this) to face him, sensing that this was going to be hard for him to say. At least there were _some_ perks to living with the same man for a while.

"I want him to be happy." Magnus laid his head in his hands, almost as if he was nursing a headache. After this conversation, I could almost guarantee there would be one. "I want him to do whatever it takes to make him smile, to make him laugh that beautiful laugh that is absolutely adorable." A shaky breath in, a heavy sigh out. "I want him to go and date and make something of his short life..."

A pause. Wow, this is actually harder than I though. "But...?" Stupid little me pushed the poor man further.

He picked up where I left off. "But  _I_ want to make him happy." Magnus looked up at me, showing me the deep sadness he seemed to keep burying beneath his smiles and clothing and glitter. " _I_ want to be the one that makes him smile,  _I_ want to be the one to make him laugh,  _I_   want to be the one he spends the rest of his life." I scooted in closer and gently put a hand on his shoulder. "But I can't; we're just too different, coming from two worlds that should never come together, not in that fashion."

"Now that, I believe, is complete and utter bullshit." Magnus started and stared at me. I'm feeling a sense of deja vu at my words... "You love him, correct?" I believe that is the first time I've ever seen Magnus Bane, my best friend, blush so violently at such a blunt statement. Answered my question, though. "And I've  _seen_ the way that boy looks at you - there is no doubt in my mind that he loves you too. Here's what I believe, Magnus," I wasn't sure if he was stunned into silence or just allowing me to speak my damn mind. I'm going with the former. "If you two truly love each other, then  _nothing_ can stand in your way."

The front door opened, indicating that Alec was home with dinner.

While Magnus was distracted with that, I leaned down and whispered, "You need to take the first step, or else your life is going to be swathed in misery."

I just really hope my words got through to him.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not know Mortal Instruments that well, actually, so I may be wrong on some references. Help me with this, please, so I can make this experience better for all of you :D


End file.
